Asia markets surge after Trump pauses his trade war

• Asia markets surged after President Donald Trump paused his trade war for 90 days.
• Trump's pause came after a rout in US Treasurys.
• China did not get a reprieve but stocks are still up on state support.

Asia markets surged early in the global trading day on Thursday after President Donald Trump announced he was suspending his trade war for 90 days.

Here's where major indexes stand:

• Nikkei 225: +8% at 10:51 a.m. local time
• Kospi: +5.4% at 11:07 a.m.
• ASX 200: +4.6% at 12:09 p.m.
• Hang Seng Index: +3.6% at 10:09 a.m.
• CSI 300: +1.8% at 10:09 a.m.
• Taiex: +9.3% at 10:09 a.m.

The gains came after Trump paused most reciprocal tariffs while keeping the baseline 10% rate in place.

However, the American leader hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% in an escalating trade war between the two mega economies.

Chinese stock markets were still higher on Thursday, but state-backed buying has been supporting China's markets over the last few days.

US stock futures were mixed in choppy trade at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday after a stunning rally on Wall Street:

• S&P 500 futures: -0.3% at 5,476
• Dow futures: +0.06% at 40,861
• Nasdaq 100 futures: -0.7% at 19,152.75

"While a universal 'reciprocal tariff reduction to 10%' remains in place, the move is still seen as a much more favorable outcome than initially feared, helping to push back against earlier concerns that securing such a concession would be a far more arduous process," wrote Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG.

Trump's decision followed a rout in US Treasurys amid what some call the "Sell America" trade.

A sell-off in Treasurys means that yields rise, which would typically increase interest rates. This is at odds with Trump's goal of lowering borrowing costs for Americans.

A US Treasury debt auction of $39 billion in benchmark 10-year notes on Wednesday drew better-than-expected demand, alleviating some concerns after a weak auction of three-year notes a day earlier.